Somalis in Kenya hounded by security forces, refugee policy

Exiled Somali journalists living in Nairobi
were struck with disbelief this week when daily
newspapers published a statement by the Department
of Refugee Affairs ordering all Somali refugees to move to refugee camps.
"The refugees, particularly those living in urban centers, are contributing to
insecurity in the country," the statement read. The acting commissioner for
refugee affairs, Badu Katelo, said aid agencies including the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) must stop providing aid to those outside the
camps.

The order followed a series of grenade
attacks in Kenya's northeastern regions, such as Garissa, and in Eastleigh, the
predominantly ethnic Somali district of Nairobi, where many exiled journalists
live. The attacks are suspected of being carried out by the Islamic militant
sect Al-Shabaab, although the group has not claimed responsibility, news reports say. The
violence has prompted Kenyan security forces to target hundreds of refugees
residing in Eastleigh on suspicion of links to Al-Shabaab--a cruel irony for
local exiled journalists, given that most of them fled to safety in Kenya precisely
because of threats
to their safety from Al-Shabaab back home.

Many exiled Somali journalists in Eastleigh
and elsewhere can attest to the heavy hand of Kenyan security forces. Muhyadin Ahmed Roble
was on his way home one evening last week in the Kairokoo area of Nairobi when
members of Kenya's paramilitary, the General Service Unit (GSU), were
conducting operations in the area. They were investigating a December 8 grenade
attack in nearby Eastleigh, which injured a member of parliament, according to news reports. Soldiers
stopped Muhyadin outside his home and asked for his identity card. "I showed
them my passport and press card but instead of releasing me they accused me of
taking photographs while I had no camera on me at the time," he said. The
forces pushed Muhyadin to the ground, beat him with the butts of their guns,
and even walked on him. "They surrounded, stepped on, kicked, and pushed him as
he kept crying out, 'why?' said Moses Baraza, a night security guard who
witnessed the beating. "As they did this, they continued asking where the
people he interviewed were, and who had told him to take photographs," Baraza
said. They released Muhyadin after taking his wallet.

Deputy Police Spokesman Charles Owino told CPJ
he would look into the matter, but repeated follow-up calls and text messages went
unanswered.

Muhyadin is one of the few exiled Somali journalists who
have managed to continue in the profession while living in exile.
He contributes to several websites,
writes political analysis for the U.S.-based security think-tank Jamestown
Foundation--and all the while studies journalism at the United States International University. He thought
that his professional status would protect him from being profiled in the fight
against Al-Shabaab. Instead, it caused more misery. "Before that night, I
thought that if I had a press card, I was safe. Now I don't believe so," he
said.

"You cannot go out at night and must hide
indoors as much as possible," said another local journalist, who resides in
Eastleigh and who requested anonymity because of fear of reprisal. "It is very
understandable that Kenya needs to ensure security, but I fear the measures
used by the government and security personnel will only create further tensions
and violence."

In another incident, the GSU took Somali
journalist Ubah Abdi Warsame and her mentally ill brother from their Eastleigh
home on December 8, on suspicion of affiliation with Al-Shabaab, she told me.
It took a great deal of negotiation by her colleagues to convince the GSU to
release her, local journalist Mohamed
Garane said. "Somali journalists are facing the toughest time ever. These
journalists have fled from their home country seeking refuge and protection
[but] they are still facing insecurity in Kenya," Garane said. "Some of them
are threatened by elements claiming to belong to Al-Shabaab on a daily basis
while others are beaten, extorted, or detained illegally by the police."

The situation for exiled Somali journalists
in other parts of the country is no better. Last month, Kenyan soldiers harassed
civilians and burned sections of a market in Garissa after three soldiers were
shot dead, according to local journalists and news
reports. Soldiers held a reporter for Radio Citizen, Petronilla
Wangui, with the string of her press card around her neck, claiming they would
kill her, she told me. "They accused us of showing the nation that the army was
doing bad things. It was not bad for me, but other journalists were beaten with
sticks." The Kenyan army spokesman, Col. Cyrus Oguna, denied that forces
harassed local civilians, claiming they only responded to violence instigated
by locals, according to local
reports.

Many exiled Somali
journalists in Kenya tell me they appreciate the fact that the country is
facing unprecedented security
threats and that strong measures are required. But few say they believe
that forced relocations to camps will ensure greater security or is even
logistically feasible. The Department of Refugee Affairs ordered Somalis to report
to the Dadaab refugee camps-- a complex originally designed to hold 90,000
refugees that now holds more than 450,000. There are over 33,000 Somali refugees
residing in Nairobi, according to the UNHCR. As the overcrowding
continues, insecurity and violence within the camp also continues, according to
local journalists and reports.

According to local
reports, the UNHCR said the government had made a hasty decision without
considering the rights of the refugees. Not all members of the Kenyan
government support the move either. Retired Maj.-Gen. Aden Sugow, a legislator,
labeled the order "reactionary," according to The
Associated Press. "This means that the government is saying refugees should
be put into concentration camps. The government should pave way for a proper
camp set-up to allow for ease of patrol by security personnel. We can't bury
our own tails," Sugow told the AP.

Worst of all, exiled Somali journalists
fear that relocation to the camps could be a death sentence. "Movement to the
camps would be disastrous since journalists are often targeted
by Al-Shabaab and many consider Dadaab infiltrated by them--the very group
Somali journalists fled from in the first place," Garane said.

"The Al-Shabaab want publicity, they want
to show that there is insecurity in Kenya. So they have resorted to this type
of individual targeting where journalists are no exception," one local
journalist who requested anonymity told me. The abrupt move to relocate Somali
refugees will only instigate more tension, this journalist said. "I fear I am
foreseeing the beginning of Somaliphobia."

[Reporting
from Nairobi, with additional reporting from Carlos Mureithi, a Nairobi-based journalist
whose writing regularly appears in The Nation and the online news portal Africa Review]

Tom Rhodes is CPJ's East Africa representative, based in Nairobi. Rhodes is a founder of southern Sudan’s first independent newspaper. Follow him on Twitter: @africamedia_CPJ

Comments

It is terrible to hear that my Somali friends are even less safe. We have tried to help them but it is getting worse and worse. I wish I knew where they could go to at least be safe and begin to realize the potential that they have. This is very sad.

Thanks Tom for the article, this is a discriminatory order! Refugees are in Kenya because Kenya is signatory to the 1951Geneva convention and 1969 charter of OAU. Furthermore Kenya refugee Act of 2006 under Kenya constitution legally allows refugees to be in Kenya! For this reasons, attacks, arbitrary arrest and use of force will never be a response to security concern…!